Terror
by YupSureDid
Summary: Ter-ror. Noun. Intense, sharp, overmastering fear: to be frantic with terror. 2. An instance or cause of intense fear or anxiety; quality of causing terror. ON SLIGHT HIATUS DUE TO THE AUTHOR RETURNING TO SCHOOL. Will update ASAP.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**: Everything up until Journey happened.

**Terror  
**

_Leaving behind nights of terror and fear_

_I rise_

_Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear_

_I rise_

-From Maya Angelou's _Still I Rise_

All was quiet in the Berry household. Rachel lay under her covers, content and in the hazy stage between asleep and awake. She heard the sound of quiet footsteps on the walkway and sleepily rolled onto her other side. Now that her fathers were home from their date night, she could relax completely and fall into a deep sleep. At the sudden sound of glass breaking, Rachel's eyes popped open in fear as a realization hit her. Her dads weren't coming home tonight. They were spending the night in Cleveland for their anniversary.

"Oh, god," Rachel whispered to herself fearfully. There were hushed voices and then quiet shuffling as the mysterious figures moved about downstairs. Rachel could hear the occasional clatter below her. After laying still for a few moments, Rachel finally snapped out of her terror. As slowly as she could, she slipped silently out of her bed. She slid, inch by inch, to her bedroom door until she could reach out to the doorknob. Holding her free hand to her wildly beating heart, she quickly flipped the lock into place and then stilled her movements, listening for a sign that she had been discovered. She heard clamoring downstairs and knew they were now in her Dad's office. Slowly lowering herself to the floor, Rachel crawled over to her bed and grabbed her cell phone off of her night stand, and then tucked it into the waistband of her shorts. She reached up again and pulled the house phone off of the charger. Holding her breath, she clicked the phone on and held it to her ear. She sighed in relief upon hearing the dial tone. Nervously, she dialed 911 and then tucked that phone under her arm as she crawled over to her closet. She normally would have felt a little silly creeping around her room on her hands and knees, but she was hoping that distributing the weight of her body over a wider space would keep the floor from creaking as she moved around her room. Thus, the intruders would remain unaware of her presence until after they had been apprehended. She reached the closet door and slowly slid it open. She bit her lip and made her way into the closet, turning and pulling it so it would close behind her. She could hear the 911 operator attempting to get her attention and assess the situation, but she ignored it as she quietly tried to maneuver herself as far to the left side of the back wall of her closet as she could. She took a second to be grateful she was such an organizational nut, as this made it easy to work her way to the back of the closet. She also wished she wasn't such a pack rat since there seemed to be an awful lot of those perfectly organized boxes and binders of old school work. Quickly she pulled a couple of winter coats off of their hangers and bunched them on top of herself.

Finally, she sat with her back against the wall and braced her feet flat against the door, hopefully preventing anyone from being able to pull it open. She was breathing heavily, but finally put the phone to her ear.

"Please help me," she whispered frantically.

"Hello? This is Lauren with the Lima Police Department, can you tell me your emergency?" A soft, calming voice said.

"I'm home alone, there are people in my house," Rachel whispered, a lump forming in her throat as her adrenaline began to wear off. There were _people_ in her house.

"I've already dispatched an officer to your location, honey. Where are you right now?"

"I'm hiding in my bedroom closet," Rachel choked out, tears now burning her eyes as her fear began to overwhelm her.

"Good, honey, that's really good," Lauren soothed. "Do you know how many people there are?"

"I think it's two," Rachel told her, "but-" Suddenly she stopped speaking as there was a loud crash. They had broken down her bedroom door. They were now in her room, just feet away, though they didn't know it.

"Honey, what was that? Are you okay?" Lauren asked immediately, concern lacing her voice. Rachel shook her head frantically, trying to rid herself of the terrifying thoughts flying through her mind.

Rachel didn't answer. Instead, she held her hand over the ear piece in hopes of muffling Lauren's voice calling out to her. She could hear the low grumble of one of the men talking, and then footsteps leaving her room. She was about to tell Lauren they had left when she heard the closet door slide open. She could hear the clack of her hangers being pulled off of the rod. Out of season purses were being flung off of the shelf and onto the floor. Photo albums being tossed carelessly, with no regard to the fact that someone's life was amongst the pages. Rachel thought she might pass out from lack of oxygen but she couldn't move, not even to take a breath.

"Listen to me, please," Lauren was saying into her ear. "Honey if you are still there but you can't speak, then I want you to let me hear you take a deep breath."

Rachel gripped the phone so tightly that her hand was beginning to ache. She was terrified, but she managed to force herself to take a shaky breath loud enough for Lauren to hear. The connection of the phone brought Rachel back from her paralyzing fear and she regained some of her fight. She inhaled again, trying to relax herself as she heard the burglar walk away from her closet. She swallowed a sob as she heard the crack of her jewelry box being smashed against the top of her dresser. The jewelry box itself had belonged to her Dad's mother when she was a teenager. She knew that the priceless ring and necklace her father's had given her for her 16th birthday would be gone forever as well. They had been a parting gift from a young Shelby to be given to her as she entered womanhood, and had come with a loving letter full of life lessons a woman needs to know. The letter was locked inside the jewelry box as well. Based on the sound of her jewelry box shattering, it was probably at least ripped in half. Though her meeting with Shelby had not gone ideally, the letter and jewelry were still some of Rachel's most prized possessions.

Rachel was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize her grip on the phone was getting tighter and tighter until finally it happened.

She hit one of the buttons with a very audible _BEEP_. The movements in her bedroom stilled and after a beat, the footsteps came closer to the closet. Rachel barely had a second to push back her panic before the top coat was pulled off of her head.

"Shit," a gruff voice said. Rachel trembled, her head buried in her arms. She felt the burglar pull the rest of the coats away and she released the phone, hoping that he wouldn't notice it falling onto her carpet over the sound of the coats rustling. A hand wrapped around one of her wrists, and finally, she raised her head, tears filling her eyes.

"Please," she whispered. "Please, just leave me in here, please. Don't hurt me!"

The guy hadn't moved, his hand still enclosed around her, though his grip had tightened. The footsteps of his accomplice could be heard entering the room, and she watched as her spotter's torso turned towards the sound.

"Uh, Brian, what are you doing? We gotta bounce before..." his voice trailed off as Brian backed out of the closet and pulled a trembling Rachel out with him.

"Dude, we got a problem," Brian said.

A few moments later, Rachel found herself standing in front of her trunk with her hands duct taped behind her. The still unnamed burglar grabbed her upper arms in a rough grip and half-lifted, half-threw her into the trunk. She squeezed her eyes shut and sobbed harder when another piece of duct tape was placed over her mouth. Without giving her a second glance, the trunk was slammed shut and she was thrown into darkness.

**Author's Note 2**: There we have it. The first chapter of my first INTENTIONALLY multi chaptered Glee fic. I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**: I own nothing except the plot of this story. Everything up until Journey happened. I used the same names from "Details In the Fabric" (Aaron and Rob) for Rachel's parents because as of yet their names have not been revealed on the show, correct?

**Terror  
**

_Leaving behind nights of terror and fear_

_I rise_

_Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear_

_I rise_

-From Maya Angelou's _Still I Rise  
_

Rachel could hear her garage door open. She could feel her car shift with the weight of the two men sitting down and a second later the engine roared to life. When the car pulled out of her driveway, she tried to keep track of where she was. After just a few minutes, she lost track of the turns they had made and began to cry harder. She had no idea where they were taking her or what they were going to do with her. She had taken note of the fact that her back seat had not been filled with much in the way of loot. Her laptop, as well as both her fathers, had been taken. She was sure they had found the cash in her Daddy's office. That caused her mind to wander. If they didn't take much in the way of valuables, maybe that's not why they were in the house in the first place. Maybe the electronics and jewelry were just bonuses. Her Daddy was a History professor, nothing worth mentioning really. But her Dad was a lawyer, and she knew that the thieves had gone directly to his office. If they were disgruntled clients, or worse yet people he had at one time put away, there was no telling what they would do to her.

After what Rachel guessed to be 15 minutes of driving, she realized that her left arm had gone numb from the awkward way she was laying on her shoulder. Seeing as she had nothing better to do, she decided to put her flexibility to the test. It took 9 tries, and one giant whack on the head against the emergency kit in the trunk with her, but Rachel eventually managed to maneuver herself so that her arms were no longer behind her. Instead, they were now resting against her stomach. She promptly pulled the duct tape off of her mouth, but kept quiet even though she wanted to let out a yelp of pain. She didn't want to alert her captors of her new found freedom, no matter how small it was. However, a victory was a victory and she was still Rachel Berry so for the briefest moment, she let a triumphant smirk adorn her stinging lips.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Rachel's head and she let out a hysterical giggle. She immediately pulled her cell phone out of her waistband and said a silent prayer of thanks as she dialed and held the phone to her ear.

"911, this is Nick speaking, what is your emergency?"

"My name is Rachel Berry. I've been kidnapped. I called 911 when two men broke into my house and they found me in my closet. They put me in my trunk," she whispered.

"Can you tell me the make and model of your car, Rachel?" Nick asked urgently. She could hear him yell for what she assumed was a superior while he typed frantically on his computer.

"It's a silver 2000 Volkswagen Jetta, the license plate is RNM 389, I have no idea where I am. I tried to pay attention to where they were turning but I got confused," Rachel half sobbed into the phone apologetically.

"Honey, Rachel it's okay, sweetie, it's Lauren. I know you are so scared right now honey but you are doing everything right, okay? We have the police looking for you and we are going to find you, honey, I promise," Lauren's soothed. Rachel instantly relaxed at the sound of the familiar voice. Suddenly, she felt the car stop, and after that she could hear what sounded like a garage door closing. She snapped the phone shut and shoved it back into her shorts, terrified of being caught. She tried to take a few deep breaths to slow her breathing and keep herself from going into a complete panic. The trunk opened and Brian's face appeared.

"What did you do!" He exclaimed, giving her a stern look.

"Listen to me, we are NOT going to hurt you. I've convinced Todd to leave you somewhere outside of Lima so that you'll be able to get to help eventually. It'll still buy us some time if you don't know where you are, though, you know? Right now we're at...well, we're somewhere so that we can get some sleep for our getaway. I told him I was just checking to make sure you were still taped up so I gotta get inside but please, please, just lay here and wait, okay? We're going to let you go tomorrow morning and I'm going to even get you something to eat, okay? We didn't know you would be home and we just kind of panicked. I'm sorry about all of this. Just please be good," Brian pleaded. Rachel nodded her head once as more tears filled her eyes. The sun was starting to rise, and she had a flicker of fear that she would never see it set again. Brian seemed almost more scared than she was, and she wondered if this was truly all a mistake or if he was just trying to earn her trust so she would behave. He gave her a small nod and slammed the trunk shut again.

-GLEE-

The shrill ringing of the hotel room telephone rudely pulled Rob from his relaxed slumber. He slapped a hand against his husbands back and mumbled into his pillow for his husband to answer it. Grumbling, Aaron lifted himself up onto an elbow before he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He grunted, his voice thick with sleep. It wasn't even 3 am and he was going to be very angry if this phone call was a prank from another hotel guest.

"Aaron? This is Kristen Grey from down the street. I don't mean to alarm you, but you mentioned the name of the hotel you were staying at and I tracked you down. Please don't panic, but I thought you needed to know that the police are at your house right now. I think the house was broken into. I know you and your family are on vacation but I-"

Kristen was cut off as Aaron let out a terrified yelp. He sat up and clicked on the light, causing his husband to lift his head off of the pillow and look at him in alarm and confusion.

"What's going on?" He hissed.

"Kristen, please. God, you have to go talk to the police! Rachel isn't with us, it's our anniversary. You need to go see if she's okay, please!" He pleaded. Rob immediately leaped from the bed and grabbed his cell phone off of the table, ripping the charger out of the bottom. He turned it on and frantically dialed what Aaron assumed was Rachel's number.

-GLEE-

True to his word, Brian returned moments later with a bottle of water and a granola bar.

"I'm sorry that this is all I have. We're only going to stay a few more hours and then-" he abruptly stopped talking when Rachel flinched suddenly. He could hear the steady hum of a cell phone ringing and anger immediately flashed in his eyes.

"I told you to be good!" He barked at her. He grabbed her bound wrists and yanked them above her head. Feeling the buzzing coming from her shorts he reached inside of them to retrieve her cell phone. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut and felt hot tears forming underneath her eyelids. Brian let go of her wrists and seconds later she heard her phone shatter against the concrete of the garage floor. She brought her hands to her face and couldn't control her sobs.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I just want to go home. Please let me go. I didn't do anything wrong, please. Just let me go, please don't hurt me. Please, please," she started repeating the word over and over, as if she no longer had any control over what passed through her lips. She was sobbing, her breath catching every few seconds. Brian felt as though his heart was being broken in two. He never meant for this to happen. He never meant for this innocent girl to become scarred for life because of his stupidity.

"Damn it!" He yelled, punching the frame of the trunk. Rachel jerked away and began screaming in fear, covering her head and face as well as she could with her bound hands.

"Stop it! I'm not going to hurt you, stop screaming before he comes out here. Stop!" He ordered. Her screams became whimpers as she tried to control herself. He could see the terror pouring off of her in waves, her body shaking uncontrollably.

"Please look at me," he said softly. She lowered her hands from her face and rolled onto her back a little. Her eyes were bloodshot and her bottom lip was trembling, but she met his gaze. "Come on, I can't leave you in the trunk now. Apparently you need to be supervised." He tried to keep his tone light. She reluctantly sat up, and then let him help her out of the trunk. She tried to keep her gaze on the floor as he led her into the house with a gentle grip on her arm. Soon, she found herself in front of a closet in what appeared to be a young man's bedroom. More likely, Brian's bedroom. He opened the door and nudged her in, and watched as she sat on the floor and brought her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs and waited to be shut in the darkness. After a second, she looked up and realized he wasn't even standing there anymore. A second later he returned to the door frame holding a pillow and blanket.

"I know it's not much but...try to get some sleep. This will all be over tomorrow and I promise, you won't have a scratch on you. I promise," he said softly, before closing the door. She could hear a lot of loud rustling and clamoring and knew without even trying that she was locked in there for good. Briefly, she wondered if they would let her out if the house caught fire. She calmed herself with the thought that she had been burglarized and kidnapped already that night, she probably had reached her quota for traumatic experiences. At least she hoped so. She shoved the pillow and blanket aside and her grip on her knees tightened.

-GLEE-

At 7:00 am on the dot, Principal Figgins walked into his office to the wide, scared eyes of his secretary.

"Kathy, what's wrong?" He asked her, alarmed.

"Sir, you need to take this. It's line 1," was all she said. Quickly, he grabbed his usual morning announcements and notices off of her desk and then entered his office, closing the door behind him. He sat at his desk and took a deep, calming breath, and then picked up his phone.

"Figgins," he said cautiously. He heard a shaky intake of breath, and felt his stomach instantly drop to his feet. This was not going to be good.

"Mr. Figgins, this is Aaron Berry. I'm just calling to keep you abreast of the," he paused," situation. Last night, our home was broken into. Rachel was the only one home and she was taken." Principal Figgins was speechless. Rachel Berry was kidnapped by burglars. He wasn't even sure if his brain could process that information.

"Oh, dear lord," he breathed into the phone. "Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything? What do you know?"

"All we know is that they found her in her closet. They didn't know she had called 911 so they panicked and they," his voice cracked and Figgins could hear him suppress a sob," They took her and forced her into her trunk. She had hidden her cell phone and called 911 again but the last time she was heard from was at 2:25 this morning. Her phone is just going directly to voice mail now."

"Mr. Berry, I am so very sorry. Please, let me know when they find her. And they _will_ find her," he said, his voice completely confident.

"Thank you. Someone will call you. I just wanted the school to be informed, because I think the police will be arriving soon to question her classmates. I didn't want you to be bombarded."

After a few more minutes, Figgins hung up with Aaron and let his face fall into his hands. One of his kids. One of his kids could be...he couldn't even bring himself to think of the horror that Rachel might be experiencing. Wiping a hand over his face, he pressed his intercom button.

"Kathy, please page Will Schuester for me."

-GLEE-

At 7:45 that morning, Will was pacing the choir room. Eventually all of his kids filed in, minus his star member. There was a tremendous amount of buzz floating around the school already, though no one had made the connection between the police and Rachel being absent. Will had wanted to be the one to break the news to his kids before the cops began their questioning. He asked everyone to sit down, and then pulled up a chair in front of their half circle.

"Something bad has happened, guys," he said.

"Shouldn't you wait for Rachel to get here before you tell us?" Finn questioned innocently.

"Did Figgins change his mind? Is Glee over? Cause then yeah, we shouldn't wait. I definitely don't want to be anywhere within hearing distance when Rachel hears that!" Mercedes giggled. There were a couple of laughs and agreements that became abruptly silent at the look on Mr. Schuester's face.

"Rachel was home alone when her house was broken into early this morning," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "They kidnapped and she hasn't been found yet."

There was silence in the room as everyone tried to process what Mr. Schue just said. Tina and Quinn began to sniffle quietly, leaning into their respective partners. Finn looked like he was about to crumble and Mike began clenching and un-clenching his fists. Before any of them had any more time to process what they had been told, there was a knock at the door and a detective walked in followed by Principal Figgins and a couple of uniformed officers. Will looked at the devastated and shocked faces of his kids and felt a tug at his heart. It was going to be a bad day.

**Author's Note 2**: I put a tiny, completely insignificant nod to Rachel and Mike in here. Did anyone catch it? Anyway, thanks for the reviews and all of the alerts! I hope this chapter was up to your expectations. Feel free to let me know, or throw in requests or ideas (though I can't promise I will use all.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**: I made one of Rachel's father's a lawyer since that seems to be a popular choice on here. Plus, it goes with my story so...yey creative license! Also, I realized I did not make it clear that this takes place immediately after Regionals, so taking Mr. Schue's comment into consideration (about enjoying their upcoming summer) this takes place during "finals week". 

**Terror  
**

_Leaving behind nights of terror and fear_

_I rise_

_Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear_

_I rise_

-From Maya Angelou's _Still I Rise  
_

Rachel wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually she heard Brian moving about his room. When she finally was allowed to emerge, she realized that it was well into the afternoon. She was staring at Brian uncomfortably until he asked her what she wanted in an aggravated voice.

"I need to use the restroom," she whispered.

"Oh. Uh...come this way," he said awkwardly. He led her down the hall and motioned to a door on the left. She looked at him uncertainly.

"Do you think you could take the tape off?" Brian sighed as he ran a hand over his face. He went into the bathroom and came out with a pair of scissors, snipping through the tape around Rachel's wrists. She was slightly disappointed to see that there was no window, dashing her hopes of making an escape, but all she was concerned about was relieving herself after waiting for so many hours to use the bathroom. She moved quickly, not wanting to make her captors angry. After washing her hands she splashed her face with water and then exited the bathroom, immediately coming to a halt when both Brian and Todd were waiting for her. She felt her body tense when she realized she was being led back towards Brian's bedroom. Immediately, the possibilities of what was about to happen to her began to fly through her head and she couldn't stop herself from starting to cry. She was shocked into silence when Brian gave her a gentle push back towards the closet. She lowered herself to the floor and tried to focus on the faces of her kidnappers through her tears. Brian knelt down as Todd left the room.

"The plan has changed. Your face and your car are all over the news, and there are cops everywhere. We're not going to leave today. We need to switch your license plate first with another one, but neither of our cars are registered so it's going to take some time. Todd ran out to McDonald's before and he's going to grab your food, okay? We're not going to hurt you, Rachel," he said softly. Rachel nodded and wiped the tears from her face. If he knew her name he must be telling the truth, there were people looking for her. Todd returned a moment later and thrust a bag and cup at Brian before leaving the room again. Brian sorted through it and then handed Rachel a cheeseburger. He looked at her questioningly when she didn't grab it.

"No thank you," she said quietly. Brian sighed and lowered himself to the floor, sitting against the doorway in front of Rachel.

"I know you're hungry, and it's going to be quite a while before we go anywhere. You need to eat something."

"I am hungry, and I appreciate that you thought to get me something to eat, but I can't eat that. I'm a vegan. It's fine. If I could maybe just have a glass of water? Maybe an apple?" Rachel looked at Brian hopefully, but frowned when he didn't say anything, instead biting into her cheeseburger and chewing thoughtfully.

"I'm really sorry about all of this. I know I said it before, but I am. Could you at least eat the french fries? I'll look but I doubt we have anything that you would be willing to eat." Rachel nodded and gave Brian a half smile as she accepted the fries he handed to her. To her surprise, he left the closet door open as he went to find suitable food for her. He returned a few minutes later and gave her a grateful smile when he realized all of her fries were gone and she hadn't moved from her spot on the floor. He handed her an apple with a few brown spots and frowned when she eagerly bit into it. She chewed quickly and swallowed, and decided since he hadn't closed the door on her, it was okay to indulge herself in talking to another person, even if it was a burgling kidnapper. So many hours alone in the dark closet had done nothing to quell her fears. She had seen on a show once that if you talked to your captors and made them see you as a person, they'd be less likely to hurt you. It couldn't hurt to try.

"Do you realize I'm going to have to use my elliptical for an extra 30 minutes when I get home? Not to mention what the salt on those fries could do to my vocal chords. I'm an exceptional singer, you see, and I take the..."her voice trailed off when she realized he was looking at her with an amused expression on his face. She immediately regretted rambling on about herself but defiantly stuck out her chin.

"You think it's funny, do you? Well listen and tell me if my voice is funny," she said. She stood up, and took a tiny step out of the closet so she wasn't mushed against all of the clothes. She stood with her spine straight, her shoulders back, and let the first few notes flow effortlessly from her lips.

_On my own_

_Pretending he's beside me_

_All alone, I walk with him till morning_

_Without him_

_I feel his arms around me_

_And when I lose my way I close my eyes_

_And he has found me_

_In the rain the pavement shines like silver_

_All the lights are misty in the river_

_In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight_

_And all I see is him and me for ever and forever_

_And I know it's only in my mind_

_That I'm talking to myself and not to him_

_And although I know that he is blind_

_Still I say, there's a way for us_

_I love him_

_But when the night is over_

_He is gone, the river's just a river_

_Without him the world around me changes_

_The trees are bare and everywhere_

_The streets are full of strangers_

_I love him_

_But every day I'm learning_

_All my life I've only been pretending_

_Without me his world will go on turning_

_A world that's full of happiness_

_That I have never known_

_I love him_

_I love him_

_I love him_

_But only on my own  
_

Brian was staring at her, dumbfounded. Rachel was almost embarrassed to note that Todd was standing in the doorway of Brian's room, a look of shock on his face. Quickly, his features hardened.

"Don't let her do that again," he said, before turning and walking back down the hallway.

"That was beautiful, Rachel. They said on the news that you were an aspiring singer, they even showed one of your videos from Myspace. You sound so different in person," Brian said. "Todd probably doesn't want any of our neighbors to hear you, so just keep quiet, okay?"

"I understand," she said softly as she returned herself to her spot on the floor of the closet. She locked her arms around her knees, relieved that they hadn't retaped her hands. "When can I go home?"

"As soon as the license plates come, I promise."

After a moment, he gave her a little nod and then closed the closet door. She heard a little bit of rustling outside, not nearly what Brian did the first time he closed her inside. If she wasn't in this predicament she would like Brian, she was sure of it. As it was, even in her predicament, she couldn't help but be glad he was with her, a buffer of sorts against the intimidating Todd.

A little while passed, and Rachel could no longer keep her eyes from closing. She reluctantly took the pillow Brian had offered her the day before and laid down. A few seconds later, she was asleep.

**Author's Note 2**: Next up, the moment you've all been waiting for (at least, I think so). Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. I'm sorry it's short, but I wanted to at least get a little something up for you all. The next chapter is much longer, but I am working another 52 hour week next week (same as this week, which is why the update sucks a little bit.) It will probably be up on Sunday, that seems to be my lazy day where I can finish my chapters up. As I said in the previous chapter, this is my first INTENTIONAL multi chaptered fic, so I'm not going purely on inspiration, I'll probably hit some bumps along the way. If you have a suggestion or a request, let me know and I shall try to incorporate it if I can.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**: Special thanks to **Mechhasylum** for helping me out. :) Please note, I am NOT a vegan and only did the briefest research on whether or not vegans can eat Cheerios. I at least know milk is out! Haha.

**Terror  
**

_Leaving behind nights of terror and fear_

_I rise_

_Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear_

_I rise_

-From Maya Angelou's _Still I Rise  
_

Rachel awoke with a start, her arms flailing about her wildly in the seconds before she realized where she was. Brian was kneeling over her, but had backed up, his arms held up in front of him in the universal signal for '_I surrender_'. She took a deep, calming breath and rubbed a hand over her face as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice thick with sleep. She rubbed at her eyes in a childlike manner and Brian smiled at her before leaning against the door frame much like he had the day before. He reached outside of her line of sight and revealed an apple, a banana, and a small box of Cheerios, complete with accompanying bowl and spoon.

"Wait for it..." he said teasingly. Triumphantly, he pulled a small bottle of vanilla flavored Silk [soy milk] out of a brown grocery bag.

"Ta-da!" Brian exclaimed with glee. Rachel couldn't help but return his grin hesitantly, and reached out eagerly for the food. She got her breakfast set before taking a bite and looking at Brian questioningly. Deciding she didn't have much to lose, she swallowed and voiced her confusion.

"What happened, Brian? If this were any other situation, I'd think we could be friends. You are a very sweet, considerate guy. How did you end up here?"

Brian sighed and she could see his body relax against the doorway.

"Todd is my step brother. His dad ran out when we were just kids, and a few months ago my mom passed away. We're going to lose the house. Todd has..." his voice trailed off as he thought over his words carefully. "He has some issues, some problems. He can't find work. Well, he _can't_ work, can't keep a job. I was in school up until my mom got sick. I was the one taking care of her until..." Rachel reached out and placed a hand on his forearm. He met her gaze and Rachel could see the pain of reliving his mom's death. "Todd didn't think we had a choice. We picked the first house we saw. You were never supposed to be there. This was never supposed to happen. My mom would be so ashamed," he finished quietly.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Brian," Rachel said, her heart on her sleeve. Brian smiled at her in appreciation before pulling himself back together.

"Okay, so eat up. It's early, not even 5 am. After we throw our things into your car, we're heading out. This is almost over, okay? And I'm going to keep my promise. You won't have a single scratch, Rachel. I won't let it happen," Brian said seriously.

"I trust you. And I want you to know...I think you're better than this. I am an excellent judge of character, Brian. I think you're better than this and I hope you make a new life for yourself," she said, her voice sincere. Brian nodded and left Rachel to her first meal in days as he moved about his room, hastily packing up the things that held any importance to him. Before Rachel knew it, she was herded back towards the garage, rebound with her hands behind her back, and was being helped into the trunk by Brian. He touched her cheek gingerly and gave her a wink before gently shutting the trunk door.

-GLEE-

"Ugh," Puck grunted as he yanked his football gear out of the back of his truck. He gave a barely noticeable nod to Matt and Mike as they joined him in the parking lot, their gear slung over their shoulders already. They watched as Kurt pulled into the parking lot with a sleeping Finn slumped over in the passenger seat.

"Dude, football practice this early sucks dick," Puck grumbled as they made their way to the field. Finn looked at him angrily, but it was Mike who landed a solid punch to his bicep.

"Are you really complaining right now?" He groused. Puck genuinely looked confused until realization hit him.

"Oh, my god," he said quietly. "I am such a dick. I _forgot_. What the fuck is wrong with me?"

Matt thumped him on the back once, giving him an understanding look. "It's early man, none of us are really awake yet." Puck wiped a hand over his face, rubbing the back of his head for a minute.

"Thanks, dude," he said.

-GLEE-

Rachel was in the middle of pulling her leg through the loop her arms made when she felt the car come to a stop. She decided pulling off the tape on her mouth right now would be a bad idea, so she just laid still, patiently waiting for Brian's face to appear and let her finally make her way back home to her parents. Dim light from the rising sun filled the trunk as the lid flew open. Brian stopped it from opening completely when he saw what she had done.

"I told you to stop doing that!" He said through gritted teeth. "Look, I'm doing what I can to make sure you get through this unscathed, okay? But you are starting to make it really difficult. What if Todd had been the one to check on you, huh? We'd both be in a lot of trouble then. We're making a quick stop. Just let him get his breakfast, and then we're going to leave you on the side of Route 10, okay? Do you know that area?"

Rachel nodded her head that she did. Brian gave her one last look of warning before closing the trunk on her as a car drove behind him.

"We'll be back in a few minutes," he said through the trunk. "Just be quiet, and be good, Rachel. Please."

Rachel growled angrily and then resigned herself to listening to the sound of cars speeding by. She ripped the newest piece of tape off of her mouth and winced. It still hurt as much as the first piece. She bit onto the tape around her wrists and began to try to rip it. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she rolled her eyes at her failure and then froze in shock. If she wasn't in such a dire situation, she'd be tempted to slap herself in the forehead. There was an emergency release located on the trunk lid for situations exactly like this. Without giving it a thought, she reached for the neon handle and yanked on the cord. Instantly the trunk sprang open and she jumped to her knees. To her horror, both Brian and Todd were exiting the diner at the rest stop off of exit 35. She couldn't believe how close they had been to her section of town all of this time. She realized they had both taken off running towards the car so Rachel leaped out and winced as she felt her ankle twist. Knowing where she was in Lima gave Rachel a burst of confidence and hope so she took off running as fast as she could towards the diner and her kidnappers. They were so caught off guard that she was easily able to dart around one of the cars in the parking lot and take off behind the building. Once she fell hard, not expecting it to be so difficult to run without shoes, but as soon as she heard the heavy bodies running towards her she used her bound hands to push herself up and take off again. She blinked back some tears as she felt something tear into the tender skin on her left foot, but she kept running. She could feel twigs and branches snapping against her face as she entered the patch of woods that separated the highway diner from the Lima suburbs. The yells behind her grew louder so she ran deeper into the woods, trying to keep her balance as much as she could over the rough ground. Eventually she heard the angry shouts and threats from Todd become a little quieter as she put more distance between them. She started angling the way she was running and hoped that her sense of direction would not fail her.

When Rachel burst through the trees, she let out a sob in relief. Even from several yards away, she could pick out Mike, Matt, Puck, and Kurt as they sleepily lugged their football gear onto the field. The thundering footsteps of her pursuers approaching caused Rachel's breath to hitch in her throat and she sprinted forward.

"Help me!" She screamed as she ran towards the fence surrounding the football field. All of the bodies on the field instantly halted what they were doing and turned towards the sound of her terrified voice cutting through the stillness of the early morning. She heard Todd and Brian crash through the trees behind her and she pushed herself to run harder. At the sight of the two men chasing the petite figure of a girl, most of the team took off running. Some slowed a bit as they realized that it was Rachel Berry they were running towards They were clearly shocked that she was still alive, and she felt her heart clench at the thought. All of this time, they hadn't had any idea if she was still breathing. While she had been sleeping in a closet, the police had probably assumed she had been killed

Upon seeing the large footballers heading their way, Todd and Brian had immediately turned on their heels and disappeared back into the woods. Seconds later Rachel was stunned to realize Karofsky and Azimio were at the front of the group running towards her and the trees that were currently hiding her captors. She stumbled for a moment as she caught Karofsky's eye as he passed by her but she quickly caught herself before she could fall. She realized that she was still screaming, but her voice was no longer shrill with panic. Instead, it was raw and cracking over every other incoherent word. Briefly, she wondered if she was doing permanent damage, but she couldn't make herself stop.

Once she was just a few dozen feet away from her Gleeks, Rachel's screams of terror dissolved into hysterical, gut wrenching sobs. The guys slowed their sprints down to a walk and immediately halted in front of Rachel. She bent over at the waist, her face hidden in her still-bound hands as she tried in vain to calm herself.

"Oh, Rachel," Mike whispered, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. She jerked away instinctively and then straightened, staring at her friends in wide eyed shock, her sobs stopping for a few seconds. They took in the bruise forming along her jaw from a particularly large branch she encountered while running through the woods. The skin around her mouth was red and raw from where she had ripped the duct tape off. Her hair was haphazardly falling over her shoulders, her ponytail from two days ago long gone after her rough ordeal. Her right knee was covered in blood and dirt from the first time she fell, but they couldn't help but notice that it was her left foot that she was favoring, though they didn't know why. No one spoke, and after a second everyone began to move at once. Matt turned and ran back towards the school as Puck pulled off his hoody and wrapped it around Rachel's shoulders. Her hysterics began to subside completely as it began to set in that she was safe.

"What the hell is going on?" Kurt finally exclaimed. Rachel shivered and inhaled shakily.

"They stopped at the diner to eat," she gasped out, her breath still not returning to normal. "I found the trunk release and they saw me...they were so mad."

Mike's eyes widened in horror as reality hit him. His worry and concern were gone for the moment as he thought about the facts, the truth of the past few days. Rachel had been kidnapped. She had been missing for hours. '_She's been missing for days_,' he thought, correcting himself. There were Amber Alerts out for her all over the country, her story was huge news. He thought of all of the horrific things he had ever heard on CNN and had to ask, even though he didn't want to know the answer. "Rachel, did they hurt you? I mean...were you...hurt?" He finished lamely. Rachel immediately realized what he was trying to ask her, and shook her head no vehemently.

"I don't know if they would have, but they didn't. I'm fine. They said they were going to let me go, but when they were in the diner I found the release in the trunk and just started running. If I hadn't gotten away..." Her voice trailed off as if she was deep in thought. "I don't know if they would have let me go unharmed after that. Todd seemed pretty angry that I was home the night then broke in," she explained, her chin beginning to tremble again. The reality of what could have happened to her hit her like a ton of bricks. She met Mike's sad gaze, and before she knew it she was throwing herself into his arms. Her hands grasped at his shirt as her hysterics began to literally take her breath away. She felt her tears spill over her cheeks as she realized what she had escaped. She wasn't a fool, she knew what went on in the world. The fact that the police had probably begun recovery missions, searching for her body in the woods and streams in Lima made her sick to her stomach. If even Karofsky had believed her to be dead, she could only imagine how long it had taken her fathers, her friends to give up hope. She had never thought of the toll her disappearance must have taken on anyone except herself. She was grateful for her survival instinct in retrospect. If she had spent her hours in the closet thinking about her fathers instead of how to get free, she would have lost her mind to grief.

The guys were all standing around Rachel, shocked into silence over what she had endured. Matt suddenly appeared as if out of thin air and handed Kurt the first aid kit he was carrying. He turned towards Rachel with the scissors he had also retrieved from the school.

"Rachel, Matt has scissors to cut the tape off of your hands, okay?" Mike said, making sure she was okay with Matt approaching her. He knew that she wouldn't be afraid of Matt normally, but he didn't want her to be traumatized by Matt reaching for her if she didn't completely realize what he was doing. Rachel nodded and held her hands out, and the guys could see the almost violent way that they were shaking. Once Matt cut through the tape, he cringed at the bloody state of her palms from when she fell. Rachel kept her body pressed into the safety and warmth of Mike's torso as she was cut free, and didn't move away when she began pulling the remaining strips of tape off of her wrists.

Coach Tenaka approached the group, a phone held against his ear.

"Everything okay here?" He grunted. Everyone nodded silently, but they took notice of the way Rachel sank back into Mike's embrace. Coach Tenaka looked at Rachel and frowned.

"The cops are on their way," he said before turning and walking towards the parking lot, presumably to meet the police and lead them to Rachel and the football players turned witnesses.

"Well, I guess football practice is canceled, huh?" Puck smirked. Everyone rolled their eyes at his attempt at humor, but Puck's smirk instantly morphed into a genuine grin when a ghost of a smile passed over Rachel's lips.

"You're such an imbecile, Noah," she scolded.

-GLEE-

**Author's Note**: Yay! I didn't kill her this time! Aren't you relieved? Haha. So, I have two ideas. Do Karofsky and Azimio catch Todd and Brian in the woods, or should they be caught later? I still can't decide. I DO have a plan that includes them for a later chapter, though. Unless there is protest, but I think it's a good idea.

If you have any specific requests or ideas, feel free to let me know so that I can try to incorporate them. Also feel free to let me know what you think in general.

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note**: Special thanks to **Mechhasylum** for helping me out. :) By the way, you guys were out of control with the reviews! I love it. I appreciate it. I love it some more.

**Terror  
**

_Leaving behind nights of terror and fear_

_I rise_

_Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear_

_I rise_

-From Maya Angelou's _Still I Rise  
_

_Will ran down the hallway of McKinley High, glancing into doorways as he passed by them. He repeatedly called out Rachel's name, searching desperately as he ran by locker after locker. Suddenly, he paused. He could hear a loud, almost panicked knocking. He stood still in the corridor, whipping his head back and forth, trying to figure out where the knocking was coming from._

_'Rachel? Is that you? I'm going to find you Rachel, hold on!" He took off running again, sliding on the waxed tile as he took a corner too quickly. The knocking was getting louder, more frantic, when suddenly-_

"Will! Open the god damn door!" Emma's voice cut sharply through Will's haze of sleep and he spastically lifted his head from where it had rested against his kitchen table. He cringed as he realized he had slept like that throughout the entire night. He rubbed his neck roughly, trying to work out a kink as he rose from the table and threw open the door. He barely had time to register Emma's casual sweatpants before he was accosted by her slight figure.

"They found her!" Emma bellowed when she threw herself into his arms. "Ken called me, she escaped! She's a little banged up but she's alive!" Will's arms automatically tightened around Emma's petite waist as he lifted her and spun her around. She tightened her grip on him, revelling in the first genuinely happy moment she had experienced in days. Will lowered her to the floor and looked at her in awe.

"I'm on my way to offer my assistance to Rachel and her parents, she's at the high school. Let's go!" Will darted into his bedroom and threw on some sneakers before grabbing his keys and wallet and ushering Emma into the hallway. As he turned the key in the lock, he couldn't help but send a wide grin in her direction.

"Em, what on Earth are you wearing?" He asked her cheekily. Emma rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ken called me at 6 am, Will, I was still in bed," she said with a small smile tugging at her lips. It felt so good to be happy, even if it was caused by Will's teasing. The last few days had been so emotionally draining that even the smallest sliver of a smile felt out of place. He pocketed his keys and gave an experimental tug at her t-shirt.

"Shut up," she said as they made their way down the hallway.

-GLEE-

Quinn listened to Brittany's idle chatter as she tossed her backpack onto the floor of Santana's car. It had been nice to spend the night with her girlfriends, even though much of it had been quiet and somber when one of their thoughts drifted to Rachel. Her mom was being as supportive as she could, but she was still reeling from her own personal issues and could only offer Quinn an occasional pat on the back as she went to and from therapy. It was depressing being in the home she had once shared with family, and even though she and her mom were trying to regain some normalcy in their routines and their new lives, it was still hard sometimes. Once in a while it became too stifling, too burdened with bad memories, and Quinn relished the chances she had to escape for a night here and there. She realized that they were quickly approaching McKinley High and pulled her cell out of her purse so she could set it to vibrate. The last thing she needed was to forget it was on and have her mom call her with some asinine request in the middle of her Chemistry final. She looked up from her phone and felt her stomach drop as Santana turned her car into the school parking lot.

"Shit," Santana said under her breath. Quinn didn't even bother to scold her for her language. It was early, almost a full 30 minutes before school was supposed to start for their last day of finals, but the lot was already almost completely full. There was police tape blocking off the football field, and after Santana pulled into a space the girls sat in silence as they took in all of the activity.

"Why are there so many dogs here?" Brittany wondered aloud. Quinn's mouth filled with saliva as she tried to fight off her sudden nausea. She swallowed carefully, trying not to gag as she wondered if they were cadaver dogs. Something was going on, and she was both dreading and hoping that it had to do with Rachel. There were cop cars, ambulances, and uniforms everywhere she looked. She pulled her backpack into her lap and put her hand on the door handle before turning to face her friends.

"We need to try to find out what's going on," she said as she pushed the door open. She didn't wait for them to agree with her, but breathed a sigh of relief when she heard their footsteps behind her and the beep of Santana locking her car. She couldn't handle getting bad news alone. As they walked through the parking lot, Santana suddenly yelled out to a freshman, causing the two blonds beside her to stop walking. A short, stocky kid walked over with his hands in his pockets, his McKinley football jersey slung over one shoulder.

"What's going on?" Santana barked at him. The kid shrugged and motioned towards the woods at the end of the football field.

"I don't know, they found that missing girl in there," he said nonchalantly before walking away. Santana stared after the kid, stunned. Quinn unconsciously took a step away from the direction of the field, a hand over her mouth. Without warning, she bent at the waist and threw up her breakfast. Brittany stood between the two girls, unsure of what she should do. Brightening, she waved as she saw Mercedes approaching, Tina and Artie at her side. Brittany didn't notice the apprehensive looks on their faces as they took in Santana's dazed eyes and Quinn wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand.

"What's going on?" Mercedes asked tentatively. Much like Quinn before, she wasn't really sure she wanted to know the answer to her own question.

"All we know is they found Berry in the woods. We don't know if..." Santana's voice trailed off as she found herself unable to verbalize what they were all thinking.

"Oh, god," Tina said, horrified. Artie reached up and placed a hand over the one Tina had laid on his shoulder. He couldn't help but feel his eyes tear up as he realized what may have happened. He cleared his throat.

"Come on, we need to find out for sure. I can't stand not knowing anymore," he said definitively. The group stayed silent as they began making their way towards the police barrier. They had barely made it halfway to where answers were waiting when suddenly a bored reporter and bored cameraman appeared out of nowhere and began pulling microphones and equipment out of the back of their van. Brittany was the first to have the microphone thrust in her face after the reporter said her spiel into the camera.

"Can you tell us your relationship to Rachel Berry?" Brittany looked at the heavily made up woman in confusion for a minute.

"I'm not related to Rachel," Brittany said honestly. The reporter looked baffled for a moment before turning away from Brittany and shoving the mic into Tina's face next.

"Have you known Rachel for long? How did you feel when you heard the news of her abduction?" Tina's mouth dropped open in shock. She sputtered helplessly for a minute before her eyes filled with tears. Quinn patted her arm and gave the reporter a dirty look, but before she could say a word Santana stepped in, raising herself to her fullest height.

"Listen, you nosey little bitch," she started, her voice laced with fury. She took a step towards the reporter, who immediately took one backwards in response. Santana was about to advance on her again when Brittany put her arm in front of her, effectively ending her attack. Santana was so caught off guard by Brittany taking control of anything that she immediately backed down.

"Look, lady. We aren't relatives of Rachel's, we're her friends. I don't know why you think it's okay to ask us these questions. What I do know is that we love Rachel very much, just as much as I love my Uncle Mickey and he only has one eye. We may not be a real family but we feel like one and we are all really scared right now about where Rachel might be. I don't know if maybe you don't have family that loves you so I guess you don't understand. This isn't a time for questions, and it's never the time to make Tina cry. So I think it's best if you leave now. After you say you're sorry to Tina. Otherwise I'm going to let Santana go. And then you're going to know what it's like to feel as scared as we feel right now." Brittany removed her arm from across Santana's torso and was glad when she only lurched forward to intimidate the crazy lady instead of actually attacking her. She wanted to make sure Tina really did get her apology first. The reporter slowly dropped her arms to her side as she looked uncertainly at her cameraman. Her face was bright red, and Brittany felt a little bad when she saw tears in the lady's eyes. It wasn't nice to make her cry, either, but she had hurt Tina first so Brittany thought she was even.

"I apologize," the ashamed woman said stiffly. She turned on her heel and ushered her cameraman back into the van. Santana felt a burst of pride when the van was not only packed up, but soon left the parking lot. Brittany had single-handedly done what no doubt the police had not been able to do since the Channel 3 van had pulled into the parking lot. True, people deserved to hear the news, but Santana hated when microphones were thrust into the faces of unsuspecting, grieving families just hours after they experienced tragedy. For once, Brittany had gotten it right. This was not the time or the place for someone to behave so insensitively. She pulled Brittany into an affectionate hug and whispered into her ear.

"You did good, B," she said. Brittany beamed at her as she pulled away and turned to give Tina a quick hug before beginning to walk towards the field again. She didn't know why they were going over there, but there were still a couple of dogs so she didn't mind.

As she walked, Quinn brought her hands around her slim waist, shivering as a soft breeze blew over her clammy skin. She couldn't even bring herself to be embarrassed for throwing up in front of everyone. She was just glad she wasn't a blubbering mess as they approached the police, she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to herself or the Gleeks. They stood outside the tape, waiting for someone to notice them and give them answers. The calm, patient exterior she was desperately clinging to instantly disappeared when she was the first to see her. It was Puck she noticed first, and then realized he was standing in a semi circle with Matt, Kurt, and Finn next to an ambulance. Quinn's eyed finally landed on Rachel seated in the back of it, wrapped in a blanket and contentedly sandwiched between her fathers.

"Oh thank God," she burst out. The group looked at her in alarm as tears began pouring down her face. She was soon sobbing so hard that her breath was hitching in her throat and all she could do was point. Immediately, shrieks and screams carried out over the field as police and detectives and various other people whipped their heads towards the group in shock. Rachel's head snapped up from her father's shoulder when she instantly pegged the voices of the Gleeks. Pushing the blanket off of her shoulders she gave her fathers a reassuring look before leaping out of the ambulance and running full speed towards her friends. She ducked under the tape and was urgently pulled into the biggest group hug she had ever had. She was passed from person to person, arms wrapping and re-wrapping themselves around her repeatedly. Quinn pulled Rachel to her for her third hug when things finally began to calm down. Everyone was crying and giggling, laughing hysterically through their tears. Eventually, the footballers made their way over to the rambunctious group and their presence started a new round of everyone hugging and laughing.

"Everyone stop!" Mike suddenly called out. The actions of every single Gleek halted in a flash as they all turned to him with questioning looks. He pointed to the ground with a stern look on his face. Bloody footprints covered the parking lot.

"Didn't the EMT's tell you that you needed to go to the hospital and get stitches?" He demanded. Rachel looked at him sheepishly and immediately took the pressure off of her bloody, injured foot by putting all of her weight onto the right one.

"Oops?" Rachel guessed, shrugging her shoulders innocently at Mike. The small smile on her face dropped as her father's walked up and stood behind Mike. Her daddy planted his hands on his hips and her dad crossed his arms over his chest.

"Mr. Chang is right, honey. You need to get back into the ambulance. The detectives said they are done for right now, they will meet us at the hospital once everything is finished up here. Now, lean on my shoulder so you don't hurt yourself anymore. You can call your friends when you're home from the hospital and we'll figure out appropriate visiting times while you are home resting, okay?" He reached a hand out towards Rachel but was pleased when Mike stepped up and swung her into his arms.

"I got her, Mr. Berry," he said. Rachel huffed indignantly, but wrapped her arm around Mike's neck anyway. Her foot was throbbing now. Running towards her second family probably hadn't been the best idea she had ever had, but there was no way Rachel Berry was going to turn down a dramatic moment. The exhilaration of her reunion with everyone was wearing off and she could no longer ignore the facts. She was hurt. As Mike carefully carried her across the parking lot and back to the waiting ambulance, Rachel's exhaustion returned. She laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"I'm really glad you're safe," he whispered into her hair. "I was a wreck without you around, you know. We all were. I couldn't even dance," he said in horror.

"Don't worry, I wasn't dancing either," Rachel mumbled. Mike chuckled, knowing Rachel didn't mean anything by it, she was just telling it like it was. He swallowed nervously. He knew hitting on a girl hours after she escaped her kidnappers wasn't the smoothest way of going about things, but he had thought a lot while Rachel was missing. He had felt like the sun had disappeared when Rachel did. He had never noticed all of the things he loved about her until they were gone. Everything had felt wrong and out of whack. Nothing tasted the same, he hated every song on the radio. He couldn't even dance. The thought of never seeing her again had kept him awake night after night, and when he had seen her running towards him that morning he had instantly felt like his world was back into alignment. Even if she didn't feel the same, he had to let her know. If he had learned anything over the last few days, it was that life could be short. He had nothing to lose.

"Well, when you're foot heals, I think you're going to owe me a dance," he said cautiously. Rachel wrapped her other arm around him as she dipped her face closer into the crook of his neck.

"I think I'd like that," she said softly.

-GLEE-

Rachel nervously played with the hem of her blanket as she tried to keep her eyes focused on an old episode of Saved by the Bell. Her daddy had clicked it on before running down to the cafeteria to grab a couple of sandwiches. He had conveniently left the remote on the seat of the chair he had been sitting on and Rachel was a bit miffed since she could not reach it from her bed. If she could survive a kidnapping, surely she could handle watching the 12:00 news and deal with whatever they said about her. Unfortunately for her, due to her severely sprained ankle and 67 stitches she was completely bedridden until her dad returned from home with her gold sticker-adorned crutches from when she tore her meniscus last summer.

She couldn't help but feel a little apprehension about being alone. She wasn't scared, exactly. She knew she was completely safe. When the detectives had arrived as she was getting the shard of glass removed from where it had embedded itself in her foot, they informed her and her parents that her captors were in police custody. Even her car and their belongings had been recovered. Rachel had mixed feelings about knowing Brian and Todd were behind bars, but she shrugged it off. She was too drained to really think much about it other than that she was sad Brian wouldn't be able to start fresh now. Frustrated over her lack of ability to do anything or know anything about her own story, she leaned back on her pillows and closed her eyes.

As her thoughts drifted off, stopping on random moments of the last few days, her head suddenly swung towards the door when she heard the click of the knob turning. She felt her body instinctively tense as the sight of Dave Karofsky standing in the doorway of her hospital room. He looked as shocked as she felt, as if he couldn't believe he had actually opened the door to her room. Rachel dropped her hand to her side and cautiously gripped the call button in case she needed to summon a nurse. She took note of the cast on his right hand and furrowed her brown in confusion.

"Can I...help you?" She asked, her voice laced with uncertainty. Dave looked like he was about to throw up and Rachel desperately wished one of her dads would reappear.

"May I come in?" Dave suddenly blurted out. His face reddened visibly and she realized he was gripping the doorknob so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Slightly afraid of what he would do if she turned him away, Rachel silently nodded and subconsciously pulled her blankets up around herself. Dave shut the door behind him, causing Rachel's heart to begin pounding a painful rhythm in her chest. She fought the urge to give in to her panic and set her lips into a thin line as she stared at the stranger standing in front of her. She had no idea what was about to happen. She watched as he shuffled over to the chair her daddy had vacated and she watched as Dave looked at everything except her.

"It was never about you, you know," he said softly. He still wasn't looking at her, and Rachel realized that whatever he was about to say to her was probably going to change everything she had ever thought about him.

-GLEE-

Author's Note: Oy. Was Cherry too cheesy? As Mechh knows, I was super concerned about the cheese factor in this chapter. I don't want it to feel completely out of place. So now you have a glimpse of what I decided for Karofsky, and that I've decided to focus on him and drop Azimio. Here's my newest inquiry: how far should I take it? Should he truly redeem himself? Or should he be in Rachel's room for an entirely different reason?

What would YOU like to see happen to Brian and Todd? I am pretty sure I'm set with where I'm going on that one, but ideas and suggestions are always appreciated! If your idea is better than mine I'll give you all the credit : P

Anywho. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed : )


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Thank you all so much for sticking with me. I'm finally settling into my new routine and though this story is still on hiatus due to school, I have managed to finally complete chapter 6. I apologize for it being so short, but please enjoy!

(On an unrelated note, though I haven't been writing I've still been reading and is anyone else REALLY getting sick of people posting those "I need help finding a story" things? I'm starting to get really irritated. )

**Terror**

_Leaving behind nights of terror and fear_

_I rise_

_Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear_

_I rise_

-From Maya Angelou's _Still I Rise_

Rachel kept her eyes trained on Dave cautiously but remained quiet, curious about what he was going to say to her.

"It's so cliché," he said softly, and then gave a small smile when she quirked an eyebrow. "Yes, I know what cliché means." Rachel blushed slightly but kept her expression neutral.

"What is cliché, Dave?"

"I transferred to McKinley just a few days before you. I was new, too, except I was new and trying to make it onto the hockey team. I wanted them to be afraid of _not_ putting me on their team, so I asked my older brother for advice. He suggested throwing a slushie at one of the guys as a joke, but I was afraid of what they'd do for retaliation. I had to slushie someone who wouldn't fight back; someone who _couldn't_ fight back. And then I saw you," he finished, still avoiding her gaze.

"Why didn't you stop after the first slushie?" Rachel asked quietly. Dave finally locked his eyes with her, his face filled with regret.

"It was fun," he said simply. "It was so easy to stop thinking of you as a girl; or even as a person at all. Puck got such a kick out of it, all of the guys did. You stopped being the new girl, you were just a target. Prey to be hunted. I never even gave _you_ a second thought…until the cops showed up at school."

Rachel opened her mouth to ask about the cops but he kept talking, his expression dark. "When we were told about what happened to you, it didn't mean anything. It makes me sick to my stomach now. I mean I have a little sister, you know? I wouldn't even be able to function if something happened to her but it never occurred to me that you have a family too; a family that was probably barely holding on to their sanity waiting for you to be found. We just joked about who else we could slushie. And then the next day, no one mentioned it at all. Your friends walked around like zombies. Chang even walked into a door one day. Me and the guys thought it was hilarious at the time because honestly, who cared that much that _you_ were missing? Then you came running out of the woods screaming like your life depended on it. I thought my heart was going to break when I first heard you. You sounded so terrified…and the look on your face when I ran passed you…I don't know if I'm even making sense," he suddenly blurted. Rachel looked at him, her gaze softening at the awkward half smiled he offered to her.

"I just had to tell you that I'm so sorry for everything that I've done to you. And it's over, all of it. Bullying at McKinley is completely over with if I have any say about it. I need you to believe that I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Rachel was about to reply when the door opened. The happy look on Mike and Puck's faces instantly morphed into looks of fury at the sight of Dave Karofsky sitting at Rachel's bedside. They barged inside and Rachel was shocked as the rest of the Glee club quickly filed in after them. Puck grabbed Dave by the collar and yanked him out of the chair, his fist pulled back and aiming for his face.

"Noah, no!" Rachel yelled. She flicked her eyes to Dave's arm as his protectively tried to cover the cast with his good hand. "Put him down, Noah, he's injured!"

Everyone's heads swiveled towards Rachel in shock as she defended her biggest tormentor.

"Are you fucking serious right now, Berry?" Santana cried out, her voice sounding half confused, half angry.

"I am extremely serious. He did not do anything to deserve that, I am fine. Release him this instant," she said, her voice clear and calm. Puck did as he was told and instantly let go of Karofsky's shirt, causing him to flop back down into the chair. He didn't step away, though, and remained towering over the bully with his arms crossed menacingly over his chest. Mike walked over to Rachel's side and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked her quietly, concern lacing his voice. Rachel smiled at him kindly and patted his hand.

"I already told you, I'm quite fine. I don't appreciate you all looking at me like I'm crazy, by the way. I am well aware of how this looks, given that I was alone with one of my worst high school tormentors. I assure you that I have not felt threatened in any way. We were having a very civilized conversation before you all came in," Rachel explained. Everyone shuffled around awkwardly for a few moments, not really knowing exactly what to say. Mike eyed Dave's cast.

"What happened to your hand?" He asked. Dave gave him a satisfied smile as he gingerly flexed his fingertips.

"I broke three knuckles," he paused to give Rachel a huge, genuine grin, "On the older guys face."

Rachel gasped and brought a hand to her mouth. The Gleeks let out various noises of approval and Puck even clapped Karofsky on the shoulder appreciatively.

"Is Brian okay?" Rachel asked shrilly.

Everyone immediately fixed incredulous looks on Rachel once again.

"The younger guy, Brian, was he hurt?" She repeated, nearly frantic with worry. Karofsky looked at her oddly and shook his head. When Rachel became visibly upset, he explained.

"He's not dead, if that's what you're thinking. Azimio broke his eye socket. It was the only thing that got him to stop fighting, and then luckily the cops showed up right after that. Rachel was looking at Dave while he explained and could not stop herself from bursting into tears. She could tell everyone was confused and even angry with her for seemingly being upset over her kidnapper being hurt, but once she started to cry she couldn't stop herself. Mike sat next to her on the bed and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. He looked at the rest of the Gleeks helplessly.

"Uh, it's not your fault Rach," he tried to reassure her. "A broken eye socket is the least of what he deserves!" Rachel shook her head no and started to mumble incoherently through her sobs. The Glee club stood around the room awkwardly, completely at a loss as to not only what was wrong with the hysterical girl, but what to do about it as well. Luckily, her father walked in and immediately ushered everyone out as soon as he laid his eyes on his emotional daughter.

-GLEE-

The Glee kids plus Dave Karofsky stood in the hallway outside of Rachel's hospital room and watched as a nurse walked in with a syringe in her hand. She swiftly shut the door behind her, leaving the kids to wonder what was going on.

"They're probably going to sedate her," Mercedes said quietly. The others nodded in agreement, concert and confusion etched on their faces as they all stood staring at her door.

"I don't understand," Quinn said," Why would she be so upset about her potential murderer getting a black eye?"

"Who knows," Kurt said, somewhat dismissively. Puck gave him a hard look and Kurt immediately softened his features.

"I think something happened that she isn't telling anyone," Brittany whispered loudly to Santana.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she wouldn't be upset if he was a nobody. So maybe he became a somebody to her while she was kidnapped," Brittany explained. The group exchanged uncertain looks.

"What _happened_ to her?" Artie wondered aloud.

-GLEE-

Rachel lay on her bed, the blankets tucked up to her chin. Her vision was getting blurry and her sobs had decreased to the occasional hiccup. Her dad sat to her left, gently holding her hand in his, his free hand softly brushing the hair off of her face.

"Daddy," Rachel slurred sleepily, "Please make sure Brian is okay." A brief look of anger flashed across Aaron's face, but was instantly replaced by a look of affection. He assumed the drugs were messing with her mind already, and he was grateful she was no longer hysterical. If she wasn't thinking of her horrific ordeal while she slept, that was just fine with him. For now, he could feign concern for the scum who took his daughter. He gave her a soft smile and rested his hand against her cheek.

"Whatever you say, baby," he whispered gently. Rachel gave him a sleepy smile and drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note 2:** Seriously, thanks for being so patient. I hope this little chapter is enough to keep you with me for the rest of the semester!


End file.
